


in a fake empire

by bluegothic



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: M/M, White House AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2014-08-18
Packaged: 2018-02-04 23:28:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1797259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluegothic/pseuds/bluegothic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seth takes a job as an intern at the White House, where he meets Donnie Gill, the president's son.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. coffee, copies, and the smithsonian

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> This is a result of too many feelings and marathoning Scandal over the span of a week.
> 
> Dedicated to Cory, who inspired this, and Kate, my co-leader in the DonnieSeth cult.

He recognizes the other boy instantly.

"You must be Donnie Gill. I’m Seth, the intern," he introduces himself, hurrying to pick up the loose sheets of paper that scattered all over the ground upon their impact. It wasn't even technically his first day on the job - he's just here for a brief meeting with the other interns and complimentary tour of the White House today - and already he's running late and making a mess of things. He clears his throat and adds, in an attempt at lighthearted humor, "I guess I technically work for your dad."

"Hi, Seth the intern," Donnie smiles - a smile Seth finds almost wistful, vacant - and joins him in the cleanup. "I’m sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Seth asks, standing and brushing himself off. "I knocked into you."

Donnie shakes his head and laughs, but his eyes are devoid of any amusement.

“You work for my dad.” He walks off in the direction of the exit, keeping his head down and picking up his pace as he turns a corner.

Bewildered, Seth shrugs off the boy's strangeness and continues along his way.

  
  
  


Later, while the other interns are heading out to meet up at a bar for drinks, Seth opts to stay behind to make sure he's got everything organized and in order for his first day on the job tomorrow. Normally, he is all for unwinding and socializing, but he's already had a bit of a rough start and decides he'd rather not take any chances. He takes a few minutes to gather himself, standing outside the White

House as he flips through the pages in his portfolio, checking items off in a mental checklist before he heads off the the hotel.

He isn't expecting it when he - quite literally - runs into Donnie Gill again, who is returning home just as he is leaving.

"Twice in one day," he teases, "must be a sign or something."

Donnie's mouth twists into another insincere smile and Seth feels a pang in his gut.

He is drawn to this boy, with his broken smiles and distant eyes; he should be intimidated, he is the president's son, after all, but he there is something in him that is approachable. Familiar, even.

But if his behavior was anything to go by, Donnie obviously wasn't one for small talk, so Seth nods politely and walks past the younger boy, intent on getting to his hotel room, getting some work done, and calling it an early night.

He is more than surprised to hear a deep voice call out after him. "Did you relinquish the rights to your soul yet?"

Flashing a toothy and slightly devious grin, Seth turns around and shrugs. "What makes you think I even had a soul to begin with?"

Donnie shakes his head a bit. "You have a point. No one gets to D.C. with one of those."

Seth laughs. There is an awkward pause in the conversation as Donnie's gaze continues to land everywhere but on Seth. He shifts nervously, unsure of what else to say or what even to make of the moment. Instead of pushing it, he excuses himself and says goodbye and hops on a shuttle bus back to his hotel.

  
  


His first actual day on the job starts like this: he delivers coffee to the Secretary of State (!!!!), makes two dozen copies of a thirty page document, and then he spends his lunch time in a nearby diner organizing the notes he has compiled for his thesis.

Nothing had really stood out about the day, though, other than the fact that he was working in the freaking White House, of course; until he was getting ready to leave and seemed to get lost trying to find his way out.

Worried that he’s going to get caught wandering somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be and possibly lose his internship, Seth creeps through the long hallways as quietly as he could. He rounds a corner and steps into an awkward walking-dance with no one other than the president's son.

“Are you supposed to be here?” asks Donnie.

“I was just leaving. Got kind of lost. Mind not saying anything about this and showing me the way out?” Seth replies, smiling nervously.

Donnie sighs and nods, turning on his heel and motioning for Seth to follow.

“What do you even do? I’m curious,” Donnie speaks after about a minute of walking in silence. He clarifies his question, “as an intern at the White House, I mean. What is there for you to do?”

“Uh, well, today I made a bunch of copies and did a few coffee runs,” Seth explains, realizing how unexciting his job must sound, especially to someone who is accustomed to living in the White House (which was really the most exciting part of it, if he was being honest). “I guess it’s your typical internship. Not really what I signed up for. Thought I’d be helping out with actual… I don’t know, work, of some kind. But I can’t complain.”

“Are you interested in a career in politics?” He asks, and Seth wonders why the boy is suddenly so chatty today when just yesterday their interactions had mostly been filled with awkward silences.

Seth shrugs. “Maybe? I don’t know. I’m a physics major, but I’m thinking of making political science my minor. I’m not sure. This is sort of me testing the waters, I guess.”

“What does any of this have to do with physics?”

“It’s just something I find interesting, is all. Like I said, I’m testing the waters.”

Donnie nods, looking almost impressed. “So you got this job but aren’t even sure it’s something you might want to do. You’re either crazy, a genius, or have some really good connections here. Or all of the above.”

Seth laughs, shifting the focus of conversation over to Donnie. “What about you? What do you think you want to study in school?”

“I’m taking online college courses in engineering. I plan on using the credits to go MIT.”

“Don’t most of you end up poli-sci majors at an Ivy League to inevitably try to follow in your parents’ political footsteps?”

“Who makes more of a difference in the long run?” Donnie smirks. “Scientists or politicians? Trust me, no one knows what they’re doing here. The last thing I want is to end up here.”

He turns and smiles at Seth, who realizes that they’ve finally reached the main hall. Seth tucks his portfolio under his arm and offers his hand out to Donnie, who stares at it cautiously and blinks before shaking his hand.

“Thank you for your help,” Seth says appreciatively. “Hopefully I’ll have this place figured out enough to get by without having to bug you soon.”

Donnie shakes his head. “It wasn’t a bother,” he replies with another smile; more sincere than any Seth has seen on the boy since arriving at the White House. “See you around.”

And suddenly, Seth finds himself looking forward to coming to work the next day, as well as the rest of his time in D.C.

  
  
  


Seth catches glimpses of Donnie as he sees him around and comes to the conclusion that the kid must not have many friends. He is usually alone, most of the time seen either entering or leaving his room, and almost always with a book or two in his hands. He wonders how anyone could get by being so lonely and if there is a reason why he seems to prefer it that way.

When they do interact, it is briefly; Seth finds himself becoming increasingly more busy and overwhelmed as the days roll by, and Donnie seems to isolate himself further and further from any kind of social activity. For some reason, Seth still finds himself drawn to the younger boy, still haunted by the sense of familiarity he feels when he looks at him.

He isn’t sure what to make of it.

So when he runs into Donnie one day, he invites him to join him and the other interns’ trip to the Smithsonian the next day, a Saturday and their day off, an offer which Donnie frowns at.

“I’m not really into… groups. Of people.”

“Ah, come on,” Seth urges him, trying to sound reassuring. “They’re a cool group of people. And we can sort of just detach ourselves from them when we get there and do our own thing if you want? I mean, if that’s something you’re cool with?”

Donnie rolls his eyes, but laughs. “Fine. Wouldn’t want you getting lost in another building, would we?”

  
  
  
  


He doesn’t introduce Donnie to the group as the president’s kid; he’s sure most of them are already aware, judging from the looks they cast in his direction when they notice him tagging along, and he’s sure he’ll hear about it later, but none of them say anything in his presence, probably nervous that they would say something they wouldn’t want to get back to the White House. Something Seth couldn’t help but be grateful for; as much as he doesn’t mind his peers, they can be pretty stupid and annoying, sometimes, about a lot of things.

As Seth had promised, they tear themselves away from the group and find themselves at the National Museum of Natural History and spend a lot of their time seeing who could outsmart the other in providing random bits of knowledge and trivia for the content in each exhibit.

Donnie proves to know much more about dinosaurs and ancient civilization, where Seth dominates in the Genome exhibit, but they both find themselves at the virtual exhibit for the galaxies of the universe, surrounded by images of stars, shining bright and swirling in colors neither of them knew even existed.

“Incredible,” Seth comments under his breath, unable to appropriately put his thoughts into words. A shooting star shoots through the sky a mere five or six feet away from his eyes and he almost forgets to blink.

“Could you imagine what all of this must look like up close, for real? Like actually being up there?” Donnie says, his voice filled with awe and disbelief.

Seth wasn’t sure if it was even possible, but Donnie seems more taken and affected by their surroundings than he is. His face is illuminated by all of the colors and lights. The stars on the screen seem to reflect in his eyes, blown wide and even bluer than usual. Suddenly, Seth doesn’t find himself too preoccupied with the universe anymore.

His mind is focused solely on Donnie; how this was the first time he’s seen the boy take an actual interest in something, how this is the most open and vulnerable he has ever been around him (around anyone, maybe).

Without thinking it through, he acts on his urges and reaches forward and takes the younger boy’s hand in his. It catches Donnie by surprise and his head snaps to turn and look at Seth, eyes still wide but searching, now, for a reason behind his actions. But he doesn’t flinch or pull away.

Seth takes this as a good sign.

They both stand there together, hand-in-hand, and return their attention to the display of images on the screen. They stand there long enough so that the looped footage replays itself from the beginning to the end, over and over again; long enough so that the room fills and empties itself with different rotating bodies. Long enough that neither of them are sure how long they actually spent not saying a word.

It’s Donnie who breaks their silence, pulling his hand away and reaching for his phone to check the time.

“We should probably head back or something. Stop by a few more exhibits before it’s time to go.”

Seth nods in agreement but stops Donnie before he could walk away, his hand wrapped around his thin pale wrist. The room is empty now, and there is no way Seth would be able to explain himself afterwards, but he pulls Donnie towards him and kisses him on the mouth.

It is a short, chaste kiss; over before Donnie could pull away if he wanted to, but he must not have wanted to, because he keeps his face a mere breath or two away from Seth’s. Seth searches his eyes and while he finds confusion and surprise, he does not see any signs of hesitancy.

He is about to inch forward and kiss him again when Donnie speaks.

“What was that?” he asks quietly.

“I don’t know,” is Seth response. “Something.”

Donnie is silent for a moment before taking a deep breath. “What is this?”

 _Something_ , Seth thinks, and leans forward to kiss Donnie again. This time he deepens the kiss with no objections from the other boy, who is clearly much less experienced but surprisingly enough, not bad at it at all.

  
  
  


They ride back to the White House in a cab that Donnie calls for. It had seemed that while they were lost inside the Natural History Museum, Seth’s friends had decided to go out for pizza and beers.

Seeing as Donnie was still underaged, it wasn’t something they were too upset to be missing out on.

The cab ride is quiet, and both boys mostly keep to themselves, stealing a few glances at each other here and there.

When the car finally pulls up in front of their destination, Donnie steps out and stops Seth from following him by closing the door behind him. He leans against the window and taps on it. Seth rolls it down.

“Hey,” he whispers, keeping the volume low so that the cab driver can’t hear their conversation, “I’m not sure what happened back there, but I don’t know if it could happen again.”

Seth blinks stupidly, unable to formulate a response and unsure of how to even feel about Donnie’s sudden change in reaction. The weight that had been lifted off of them back in the universe exhibit suddenly sat in his gut, a dozen times heavier than ever.

He wasn’t really sure of how to read what had happened either, but he couldn’t bring himself to question it, just yet, or regret it in the slightest.

Donnie continued. “We’re republicans. My dad would kill me. Do you know what this could do to his career if it got out?”

Seth looks forward, trying to organize his thoughts and shape them into words. He couldn’t blame Donnie; it wasn’t his fault that these were the circumstances they had to live with.

He didn’t think about how his actions at the museum would affect Donnie, and it really wasn’t fair to take offense to how he was reacting how that he’s had time to process it all.

“I understand, I guess,” he finally says. “I get it. We’re still cool though, right?”

Donnie nods appreciatively, his eyes downcast.

  
  
  


Seth is sitting in his hotel room, working away at his laptop when his cell phone goes off, displaying a new text message. From Donnie, no less.

_I’m sorry. Forget about what I said in the cab. I really did have a lot of fun today. Can we do it again? - Donnie_

He didn’t want to read into it, and waited a minute before replying:

_I had fun too. And yeah, totally. I’ll see you Monday?_

Donnie’s response was almost instantaneous:

_I was actually hoping I’d see you tomorrow._

Seth closed his laptop, smiled in spite of himself, and stared dumbly at his phone until he finally texted back that he couldn’t wait.

No one could ever find out about it, and as much as the idea of being kept a secret didn’t sit well with Seth, he couldn’t think of enough cons to outweigh the pros of the situation.

_Maybe you could show me around D.C. or something., Seth added. You know, so I don’t have a whole CITY to get lost in._

He curls himself into bed and waits for Donnie to reply.


	2. to victories, grand and small

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seth's entire world almost slips away.

“Geez,” Seth grins, peering at Donnie from across the table. “You sure take a while to make up your mind, huh?”

Donnie rolls his eyes and suppresses a laugh. “Shut up. I’m a picky eater.”

“You don’t say. This was the only diner in town you deem worth any of your time.”

“They have the best burgers in D.C.,” Donnie comments, turning his attention back to his menu.

Seth bites down on his bottom lip and chuckles. “So then order a burger.”

“But I don’t know if I’m in the mood for a burger,” the shorter boy replies. Before Seth could get in a word of protest, he looks up from his menu again with a stern gaze. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Seth shakes his head and intently watches Donnie study the menu in front of him. “You get stranger and stranger every day, I swear.”

He feels a kick at his shin from underneath the table and drums his fingers against the table, turning his attention to a group of children chasing each other on the lawn across the street. He wonders what it would feel like to be that young and carefree again. It wasn’t as though he felt like he was old now - that wasn’t the case at all. But he does feel jaded. There were so many things he would never get to experience again, both good and bad - and of all the sacrifices growing up meant having to make, trading in a precious handfuls of firsts felt like the biggest one of them all.

“Alright,” Donnie finally speaks again, pulling Seth back into the present. “I think I’ve made a decision.”

“Yes! Let’s hear it,” he sighs in relief. He was honestly beginning to think they’d miss their 5 ‘o’clock movie.

“I think I’m just gonna have an omelette.”

Seth nods and leans across his seat to wave over the waitress, the expression on his face purposefully unreadable.

“What?” Donnie asks, unsure.

Before Seth can offer a reply, the waitress arrives and takes their orders promptly before hurrying off back to the counter.

“What was that?” Seth resumes, turning his focus back to Donnie.

“What was with that face?”

“What face?”  
“The face you made when I said I wanted the omelette?”

Seth smiles again, a wide toothy grin. “It’s nothing,” he laughs. “You just spent nearly twenty minutes studying that thing and settled on an omelette.”

Donnie almost looks offended. “First of all, you don’t settle for an omelette. The omelette is already the superior breakfast food, and breakfast is the most superior meal in the whole day. That’s why they say it’s the most important.” Donnie’s voice is stern, as if he is rehearsing for a school debate. Seth watches on in amusement. “Second, the omelettes here are almost as good as the burgers, if not better. The fact that you didn’t order one kind of bothers me.”

He laughs again; ever since that day in the museum, Donnie had transformed into an almost entirely different person. He thought at first that the kid was just finally coming out of his shell, but watching him interact with other people told him different. He was still painfully shy and introverted; he could barely even look his own father in the eye (Seth had only really witnessed one interaction between the two of them; he had still yet to meet the man himself, but it was enough to tell him all he needed to know).

But there was no shell to emerge out of; there was just a different side of Donnie that only Seth got to see. A clever, witty, snarky, ranting motor engine of a boy with way too much time on his hands.

The selfish part of him was happy to keep this Donnie all to himself while at the same time he wanted to share him with the world. He was happy that the choice wasn’t up to him.

“Yeah?” Seth asks, folding his arms across his chest. “Why is that?”

“You just struck me as the adventurous type. The ‘I’ll-have-breakfast-at-3-pm’ kind of guy. But you’re so by-the-book, you might as well me Donald Gill Senior,” Donnie retorts, leaning back in his own booth.

“Speaking of O.G. D.G.,” Seth snarks, knowing how much his nickname for Donnie’s father bothers him, “you might wanna stop flirting with me. We are in public,” he whispers.

Donnie grows tense, but is biting back a smirk. “Shut the fuck up.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Seth replies. “I’m your dad’s bitch, not yours.”

**  
  
**

It is nearly 8 pm when the movie ends, and the two young men stumble out of the theatre in a daze. While they could just watch movies back at the White House (the live-in movie theatre was unlike anything Seth had ever seen), but Donnie much preferred the comfort that going out to a movie brought. The dimly lit room gave them the freedom to be together, while the public setting set up a boundary Donnie felt like they needed.

Either way, it didn’t matter much to Seth. While he wouldn’t refuse a more intimate relationship, he was perfectly content with what they had. Though they hadn’t discussed it much, he had a suspicion that being in a relationship at all was newfound territory for Donnie, let alone having to sneak around in one; the last thing he wanted to do was make things anymore uncomfortable for him by rushing it. Seth had never been very good at being patient, but it was something he was willing to work at for Donnie.

The two of them decide to walk back to Seth’s hotel together as it wasn’t too far from the cineplex. Donnie had texted his mother earlier to notify her that he’d be staying over at a friend’s. She seemed suspicious at first (Donnie didn’t have many friends, after all), but gave him the okay in the end; just one of the perks of being a kid who rarely caused trouble for parents who rarely acknowledged you.

They are about a block away from the hotel when Donnie laces his fingers through Seth’s, who almost fails to register the moment as it is happening. The way the other boy takes his hand in his feels like one of the most natural things in the world, like it was something they just did all the time. Seth decides he never wants to let go.

But they do the minute they step into the lobby. The chances of running into another intern are too high, and while they all knew the two boys had become fast friends, no one really suspected just how close they’d become.

They intend to keep it that way for as long as possible.

“Is it wrong of me to wish my dad won’t be re-elected this year?” Donnie asks once they’re tucked away in Seth’s room, both of them sitting on the floor in front of his bed, playing with a deck of cards. “I’ll even be able to vote by then. Am I the biggest asshole on the planet if I say I don’t think I’m voting for him?”

Seth shrugs, absentmindedly staring at the cards in his hands. He has no idea what game they’re even playing, really, he’s still too preoccupied with the idea of having Donnie Gill in his hotel room.

This was the first time in their relationship they were ever really truly alone together.

“I don’t really see myself voting for your dad, either,” Seth confesses. He leaves out that a large part of his decision lies in being able to stop sneaking around in efforts to avoid a political scandal. “So I don’t blame you.”

After a moment of silence, Seth speaks again. “He’s not the worst president we’ve ever had though.”

“He’s probably the worst dad, though,” Donnie says with a laugh, even though there’s nothing funny about it.

Seth watches the younger boy attentively as he concentrates on his next move, pushing back the urge to reach out and touch him.

They don’t kiss very often, so when it happens, it’s almost monumental. Donnie always puts so much of himself into the kiss that it sends Seth’s mind to another dimension entirely, and he thinks he would trade in absolutely anything and everything if it meant he could keep on kissing him for just a few more minutes.

Being together is like playing with a loaded gun; any little thing could set their whole relationship - and lives - over the edge. They could get caught and end up costing Donnie’s father his entire career. Seth would lose his internship, undoubtedly, and being involved in such a widespread political scandal would do anything but help his reputation, and who knows what that could do to his future.

Still, as dangerous as it may be, and as hard as either of them tried to fight it sometimes, they are inexplicably drawn toward each other.

And for awhile, everything is perfect, or as perfect as they can be.

Until exactly one month before Election Day.

Seth couldn't remember a single detail about the whole day if someone paid him to. Every detail and event blurred into each other, and it left him with a hollow feeling that it would never end.

Here is what he does know: It started off sunny, and the White House was in swirl with press conferences and media. With so little time before the big day, it was crucial that President Gill kept up appearances.

In the evening, there had been a televised speech regarding the new foreign policy scheduled in which the president was set to make an important announcement.

As soon as the first family took the stage and the crowd of reporters and journalists silenced, President Gill began his address by introducing his family. Donnie stepped forward to wave to the public when his father called his name, but the moment he stepped back to join his mother in the back again, a loud bang echoed through the air and a bullet intended for President Gill sent Donnie flying backwards against the back of the stage, his shouting mother in hysterics by his side. Seth watched from the sidelines and stood paralyzed between two reporters who fought each other for a closer view of the stage, thirsty for the newly spilled blood.

When he was finally able to move again, his feet still felt heavy, his lungs constrained. He’s still not quite sure what was happening, but it was mostly due to the fact that his mind didn’t want to process any of it.

When he ends up in the hospital lobby at three in the morning, it isn’t a question of why anymore, but a question of how. He’s not sure when he left the White House, and he’s not even sure how he got here, but he leans back against the wall in a hard navy seat, staring at the ceiling as he listens idly to the news, waiting to hear anything about Donnie’s condition.

There was no way he could see him, Seth knows. But he still wishes he could get close enough to find out anything. He doesn’t want to find out when the rest of the world does; he wants to be up there, pacing the halls, eavesdropping on the dialogue between doctors and surgeons like his mother was. He deserves that much, but seeing as he was just another nameless face to Donnie’s family, his presence would be difficult to explain.

He doesn’t get a wink of sleep all night, and spends many of the early hours in the cafeteria pouring back nearly half a dozen styrofoam cups of coffee, hoping that a spike of caffeine in his blood would help him better process what was happening. It was useless, really; no amount of crappy coffee would change what happened or how he was feeling. Nothing would undo the knot in his stomach or drain his heart of all the lead.

He is stuck this way, trapped until he hears that Donnie’s going to be alright, and even then he won’t stop worrying.

Things don’t look well for awhile: Donnie had apparently lost a lot of blood in the shooting and was diagnosed to be in critical condition. He’d be in recovery for awhile, if he survived this at all.. Although it had only been one bullet, it had barely just missed his heart. His doctors claimed it was a miracle that he wasn’t pronounced dead on arrival and that there was still any hope at all.

The hope is all Seth has to cling on to. He can’t even see Donnie. Visiting privileges are strictly reserved for his immediate family and a few noteworthy members of his father’s campaign. He lives on his cell phone and in front of television sets, itching for any updates on the young boy’s condition.

Donnie spends his 18th birthday in the ICU. Seth spends it alone in his hotel room, with CNN on mute and a museum ticket stub in his hand.

Donnie is released from the hospital on a Friday afternoon towards the end of October, but Seth doesn’t get to see him again until a few days later when he returns to work on Monday morning.

He waits until the coast is clear and, knowing how much he is risking, sneaks into the hallway outside Donnie’s room. He hesitates before knocking and a security guard opens the door with a look on his face that says he is ready to attack.

From across the room, Donnie mumbles to the large man that it was alright, and that Seth was a friend who worked for his father. The man stepped aside to let Seth pass, and he nervously rushed to Donnie’s side, not wanting to give their company any ideas.

He watches Donnie smile weakly. His eyes are more tired and empty than Seth has ever seen them, but his grin still manages to appear sincere. Seth smiles just as weakly in return.

“I’m glad you’re okay, man,” he stutters, placing his hand on the headboard of Donnie’s bed. “How are you feeling?”

Donnie sighs. “Like this all sucks.”

“Yeah,” Seth says after a moment. He wants to tell Donnie how grateful he is that he’s alive, about how terrified he’d been for the past couple of weeks. He wants to reach out and touch his face. But he can’t. Not with the large, hulking figure by the door. Not when he was placed under such intense security and care. Not when he was still so vulnerable and hurt.

Instead, he tries to lighten the mood. “So, what’s it like to almost die?”

Donnie lets out a small, choked laugh. “Like everyone says it is, I guess. After I blacked out, it was really peaceful and like… Like being asleep. There was nothing at all, but I knew everything was alright.” He explains, a far-off look on his face. “There was no light or anything, though. So maybe I’ve gotta make a few changes before the real thing comes along,” he jokes.

Seth watches him again for a moment; he is thinking about something, and Seth wishes more than ever that he could be in Donnie’s place. It kills him to see him in so much pain - both physical and emotional.

“You know what the worst part about this all is? Besides almost dying?” Donnie asks after a minute.

“What?” Seth wonders, tilting his head.

“My dad,” Donnie says, lowering his voice to a low whisper, “is definitely going to win now. There’s no way he could lose.”

Seth tries not to laugh. It was true; who wasn’t going to vote for the guy who almost lost his son? Who was the victim of an assassination attempt? Sure, his victory would be out of sympathy and sure, the American public would soon grow to regret basing their decision off a tragedy, but it was all he needed for now.

“I would choose living in a country ruled by a man who doesn’t know up from down over living in a world you’re not in, ten times out of ten,” Seth whispers back to him, smiling genuinely for the first time in weeks. Donnie smiles too, and the two remain quiet until a nurse comes in and states that it was time for Donnie to go to physical therapy. Seth leaves the room, but not before turning back at the doorway and waving goodbye.

“See you later, dude,” Donnie says as the nurse helps him out of bed.

A few weeks into President Gill’s second term, Seth is invited to an actual family dinner as Donnie’s guest. The president is absent from most of the meal, of course, as he is called out multiple times to take phone calls and review various details concerning the week ahead. But it’s better that way. He’s known the man for almost nine months now, and though he doesn’t like him all that much, he is still intimidated by his presence.

Donnie’s mother is friendly enough, and although has an aura just as frightening as her husband’s, manages to make Seth feel as comfortable as he possibly could having dinner with his secret boyfriend’s family for the first time.

Experts at keeping up appearances and playing it cool, Seth and Donnie exchange casual dialogue with each other as they banter back and forth, but underneath the table, Seth takes more than one opportunity to gently rub his foot against Donnie, who managed to keep an impressively convincing poke face the whole time.

Mrs. Gill goes as far as calling in one of their limousines to transport Seth back to his hotel after they’ve all had dessert, extending a courtesy that suggested the woman was a lot more caring and personable than she let herself appear at times.

Donnie walks Seth out, much to his family - and Seth’s - protests; he was still in recovery and walking on crutches, but Donnie insists, anyway, and just stubborn enough to get his way.

“Thanks for dinner,” Seth says, looking out into the night sky as he waited for his ride to come. The two of them stood at the front door, soaking in the unseasonably warm night air.

“Thanks for coming,” Donnie replies. “I am sorry if it was awkward.”

“It was fine,” Seth reassures him, placing his hand on his arm.

A sleek black car pulled up in front of them and Seth begins to walk out towards it, but not before Donnie grabs onto him with his good arm and pulls him in for a half-embrace. It is just dark enough to get away with such a small act of affection, and when he is sure no one is watching, he plants a quick kiss on Seth’s cheek and whispers a heartfelt goodbye in his ear.

Seth pulls away with a grin on his face and a gleam in his eye before waving and walking away towards the car. The chauffeur steps out to open the door for him, and he steps in, though his feet seem reluctant to leave the ground beneath his feet.

He watches Donnie watch him pull away from the rearview window, and doesn’t blink until he is out of sight completely.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand, the end. Happy birthday Kate <333


End file.
